Bellator 151 has reportedly undergone a big change, as Michael Page has withdrawn from his co-main event bout with Fernando Gonzalez. RFA welterweight champion Gilbert Smith has stepped into fight Gonzalez, however, at the March 4th event.… Read More

]]>

Michael Page (photo via Bellator)

By FCF Staff

Bellator 151 has reportedly undergone a big change, as Michael Page has withdrawn from his co-main event bout with Fernando Gonzalez. RFA welterweight champion Gilbert Smith has stepped into fight Gonzalez, however, at the March 4th event.

The upcoming card will take place at the WinStar Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma.

News of Page’s withdrawal was reported first by MMA Junkie.com. Bellator has not disclosed the reason why.

Smith (12-4) is coming off a stoppage win over Bristol Marunde at RFA 31 in October, and is 4-1 in his last five bouts.

Gonzalez (24-13) submitted Curtis Millender in his last MMA bout, which took place in May, 2015. The welterweight is also 4-1 in his last 5 contests.

Bellator 151 will be headlined by a bantamweight bout between Joe Warren and Darrion Caldwell.

Resurrection Fighting Alliance has confirmed that the promotion’s welterweight title will be on the line June 5th, as champion Benjamin Smith will face Gilbert Smith.

The bout will headline RFA 26, which will be hosted by the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Colorado.

“Smith vs. Smith will be a fantastic welterweight title fight at RFA 26,” the promotion’s president Ed Soares was quoted saying in the official announcement. “Benjamin Smith was completely dominant in winning the title, while Gilbert Smith was valiant in his last title fight by going 5 rounds with a guy who missed weight by 5 pounds. Smith and Smith will give Colorado a title fight they deserve.”

Benjamin Smith (14-2) heads into the bout having won six straight fights, and is coming off a stoppage win over Indalecio Tat Romero in March.

“It feels great to be defending my title in Colorado, since I had a great experience fighting there in November,” said Smith. “I won the title back in March and this is a great opportunity. It gives me holding status. Gilbert Smith has a great last name. He’s also a really physically strong competitor. I look forward to finishing him and keeping the belt at RFA 26 on June 5th.”

Gilbert Smith (10-4), meanwhile, is looking to rebound from a decision loss to Chidi Njokuani in January. The welterweight is 3-2 in his last 5 bouts.

“First and foremost, I am really excited to be getting this opportunity,” Gilbert Smith relayed. “It will be nice to get redemption. I do wish my opponent made weight in the last fight, but I ended up learning a lot from that fight. I was back in the gym on the Wednesday after the fight and I have filled in the holes that I needed to fix. Benjamin Smith is a deserving champion. He’s a good grappler that has been working on his boxing, but he has a similar style to me. That will play to my advantage. I don’t know how, but I will finish him, and get that belt strapped around my waist in front of my friends and family in Colorado.”

Resurrection Fighting Alliance has announced that TUF vet Gilbert Smith will take on Chidi Njokuani for the promotion’s vacant welterweight title on January 9th.

The bout will headline RFA 22, which will be hosted by the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs.

Smith (10-3) is coming off back-to-back victories over Bojan Velickovic and Ben Brewer, after he was decisioned by Brian Foster in May.

“It’s funny that Chidi and I are fighting,” Smith said in the official announcement. “Last summer, during the 4th of July weekend, I was in Las Vegas for my teammate Chris Camozzi. I ended up watching UFC 175 with Chidi. He’s a really cool guy and it never crossed my mind that we would be fighting each other. He’s a taller kickboxer and I’m a shorter wrestler, but it could be decided by my striking versus his grappling.”

Njokuani (11-4) has gone undefeated in three straight fights following a submission loss to Jeremy Kimball last March.

“Gilbert is a cool dude outside of the cage,” Njokuani added. “It will be great to fight someone like him, who has been to the UFC. I know it will be a tough fight, but Fitch is the perfect training partner for him and I will be ready. The fans are going to see a great title fight at RFA 22.”

RFA has also announced that the upcoming event will feature featherweight Donald Sanchez (30-12) taking on Mark Dickman (9-2) in the co-headliner.

When Jason South fights under the Maximum Fighting Championship’s banner for a second time on January 17th, he’ll be a different fighter than the one who made his promotional debut in October. Not only is… Read More

]]>

Jason South (photo via Maximum Fighting.com)

By Kelsey Mowatt

When Jason South fights under the Maximum Fighting Championship’s banner for a second time on January 17th, he’ll be a different fighter than the one who made his promotional debut in October. Not only is South dropping from middleweight to welterweight for MFC 39, but the 31 year-old vet is coming off his first pro defeat.

At MFC 38, Sam Alvey stopped South in the fifth round of their middleweight championship fight. There was just four seconds left in the memorable bout. Although no fighter wants to see losses added to their record, they provide a learning experience victories typically cannot offer.

“Oh without a doubt man,” South relayed on Full Contact Fighter Radio recently, when asked if there is merit to the saying that fighters learn more from their losses than wins. “I try not to do much in dwelling on the past, but that still eats me alive to this day. Obviously this is the nature of the sport and everybody loses eventually, but the fact is I don’t like to lose. Nobody does.”

“You know, I watch the fight again, and there’s just a lot of things I needed to tighten up,” added South, who had won ten straight bouts heading into the October 4th card. “A lot of mistakes I made. There’s some good things I did, but you know, me being stubborn, not wanting to go away, I want to reserve that for my back pocket. I really want to be better than a person and outclass them, and I just flat out didn’t do that in the last fight. I’m really working on improving a lot of things. It’s done nothing but light a fire.”

While defeats are often the final catalyst that prompts a fighter to switch weight divisions, according to South, the loss had no bearing on his move to welterweight.

“No, no, they offered me this fight at 85, with a title shot…I’ve fought all over the place, I couldn’t say no,” said South, while referring to his recent bout with Alvey. “I figured I’d be on the smaller end of it, but my last couple of fights I’ve tried to do 170, but with the circumstances, between people dropping out, or last minute opponents, I’ve had to do catch weights, so I think 70 is where I belong.”

As a result, South reports that the weight cut for his upcoming bout with Gilbert Smith is on track.

“Weight’s good,” South said. “I’m the lightest I’ve ever been before, dropping down this low, I’ve kind of been all over the place. I’ve fought 70, 75, 80, 85; I’ve been all over the place depending on what I needed to do to take a fight at the time. So, as far as 70, this is the best I am weight wise I’ve ever been for a fight so it’s been good.”

In Smith (7-2), South will take on a TUF 17 vet, who is also making the move from 185 pounds to 170.

“I actually didn’t follow him on “The Ultimate Fighter”,” South noted about Smith, who has scored back-to-back wins after he was submitted by Bubba McDaniel at the TUF 17 Finale in April. “I haven’t seen quite a few of the last seasons. As soon as I took the fight, obviously, I took a look at him…he’s always been an 85’er, looks like a solid guy; it’s going to be a good fight.”

MFC 39 will be hosted by the Northlands Expo Center in Edmonton, Alberta on January 17th. The event’s main card will be broadcast live on AXS TV.